The Central Reserve Police Forces on Wednesday addressed the
picture of a jawan circulating on social media, noting that the person in the
picture was a CoBRA jawan captured by Naxals while adding that appropriate action
was being taken for the same, reported news agency ANI, referring to CRPF sources.

The CoBRA commando was abducted after a fierce gunfight between
Naxals and security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region on April 3, which
left 22 security personnel dead.

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The photograph shows Rakeshwar Singh Manhas, a commando with
the 210th CoBRA battalion, in a hut, without any other person being
visible in the frame, PTI reported on Wednesday.

“We are closely monitoring the situation. All best
possible efforts are being made to secure the safe return of the jawan”, PTI
quoted Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P as saying.

CPI(Maoist) had issued a statement in Hindi on Tuesday,
saying Manhas had been abducted by its cadres from site of ambush. They demanded
the state government to appoint negotiators to facilitate a safe release of Manhas.

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Reportedly, he was a part of the squad which had gone for an
anti-Naxal operation in the Bijapur-Sukma border area on the night of April 2,
hours before the ambush took place.

The gunfight between the two sides led to the death of eight
CRPF personnel, among the total death toll of 22.